Fluid container



'. Nov. 24, 1942.

E. R. KOPPEL ,303,126 FLUID commmn Filed Jan. 29, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l n" um" Z 8 Q m .Emsi RKo vpel ATTORNEY.

NQWQ 1942- E. R. KOPPEL ,303, 26

FLUID CONTAINER Filed Jan. 29, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ernst R Kappa! INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 24, 1942- OFFICE FLUID CONTAINER 1 Ernst R. Koppel, Wauwatosa, Wis., asslgnor to A.

0. Smith Corporation poration of New York Milwaukee, Wis., a cor- Application January 29, 1940, Serial No. 316,083

1 Claim.

This invention relates to hot water tanks. An object of the invention is to provide an improved construction ior hot water tanks.

Another object of the invention is to provide ahot water tank which can be readily mounted in an outer shell or casing and surrounded with insulating material to prevent loss of heat.

Another object of the invention. is to provide an insulated tank with a slip joint in the external casing to allow differential. expansion or contraction of the'tank and-casing. g

- Further objects of the invention will be clear from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1' is a. vertical section of an electrically heated tank;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 22 of Fi i;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a blank before it is shaped into the head of a tank; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of a gas heated tank.

Referring to the drawings, the tank comprises a cylindrical body section I slightly flared at the ends to receive the two heads 2 and 3. A coating of vitreous enamel or other suitable lining to prevent corrosion may be applied to the internal surfaces of the shell and heads, after which they are provided with the necessary fittings and then assembled and united by welds 4 and 5; or, 8.1- t

tematively, the shell and heads may be first assembled and welded together to form a complete tank which is then galvanized or treated in other suitable fashion to prevent corrosion.

The blanks from which the heads are formed are generally circular in shape but have four projections 6 extending into the four corners of the square which incloses the circular portion of the blank. This procedure utilizes metal which would be sheared oii if a perfectly circular blank were used. The blanks are formed into heads of suitable shapes of which two different modifica' tions are shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and the projections 5, which are an integral part of the heads, are bent into legs 1 for the support of the tank or its external casing.

Spuds 8 are provided for the cold water inlet I a. hot water outlet l0, and drain pipe I]. Mounting rings 5 2, or other mounting means of suitable material are provided for the support of the heating elements i3 and are welded or otherwise secured to the cylindrical shell. Plates H are welded to the shell for the attachment of thermostat controls i5. For the electrically heated tact with or inserted into the, shell of the tank and are responsive to variations in its temperature to control the supply of current to the heating elements.

The tankis insulated against loss of heat by insulation l6 between the tankand an external casing which consists of a bottom IT, a top l8,

and a cylindrical section I9 which slips into the top and bottom.

In assembling the structure, the hot water out-.

let l0 and elbow 20 are fitted to their respective spuds. The tank is mounted in the bottom section I! of the external casing and the legs I are secured by bolts 2| to an external support 22 which may be a ring extending around a complete circumference, or separate legs for attachment to the four legs of the tank.

Asbestos or other insulating washers 23 are desirably used in conjunction with the bolts 2| to diminish loss of heat by conduction through the legs 1. After the tank has been secured to the bottom part of the external casing, the cylindrical section of the casing is slipped over the tank and into the bottom of the casing and the hot water outlet 10 is allowed to project slightly through the hole 24 provided for it. The cold water inlet 9 and drain pipe H are screwed into their respective fittings. Thermostat housings 25 are mount A ed in the openings in the cylindrical shell that have been made for them and are secured by is placed between the tank and the external casing and the upper section i8 of the casing is mounted in position and bolted to the four legs on the head of the tank.

In this construction the outer casing can be readily and easily assembled around the tank and is then rigidly supported by the tank. Despite these advantages, the tank has no connection with the cylindrical shell section of the external casing. Diflerences in the expansion of the tank and easing caused by diilerences in temperature cause no strain on either since the top of the casing is free toslide up and down over the cylindrical part. To further provide for difierences in the expansion or contraction of the tank and easing, the cover plates 29 are secured to the thermostat housings 25 but not to, the outer casing and are free to slip over it when the tank tank, the thermostat elements are placed in conexpands or contracts more than the casing. The

- burner 3 l.

holes for the insertion of the thermostat housings are made sufficiently longer than the inwardly extending projections of the cover plates to provide ample clearance for the maximum difierences in relative expansion that will occur in use.

A modified construction suitable for gas heating is shown in Fig. 4. A thermostat 30 projects into the tank and is responsive to the temperature of the water to control the flow of gas to A central flue 31 conducts the hot gas from the burner up through the tank to the chimney support 33 for the attachment or the chimney. A baffle 34 and vanes 30 are pro-- vied to afiect the course ofthe hot gases and cause them to be used efilciently for the heating of water in the tank.

The hot water tank is secured to the top of the casing by the four legs on the upper head, and to'the lower section of the casing by means of the four legs on its lower head and the additional supports or extensions 36 to provide suflicient clearance over the burner.

In this construction as in the other, the tank and the casing are free to expand or contract 1ongitudinally, any relative motion between the two merely causing slippage between the top section of the casing and its cylindrical shell without imposing strain on either.

With the construction of the present invention rivets are unnecessary in the casing and appearance is considerable improved. Furthermore, the casing can be readily removed without destroying its elements so that various parts may be replaced or parts may be used again.

Various embodiments and modifications of construction may be employed within the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

The invention is claimed as follows:

In a tank of the class described, to be encased in an outer shell, a cylindrical tank wall, a sheet metal head circumferentially welded to said wall and having its outer circumferential edge directed outwardly in a generally axial direction from the end of said wall, and separate legs integral with and extending from said circumferential edge of said head to provide support for the tank within the casing, said legs being clrcumferentially spaced substantially equally to provide for forming the same with the head from a single sheet of metal of polygonal dimension with the legs iormed from the metal at the corners oi the sheet which would otherwise be wasted.

ERNST n. xopenn 

